The present invention relates to forage harvesters having rotating cutting cylinders and an elongated, stationary shear bar supported on the harvester in close adjacent relationship to the cutting cylinder so that the crop material is chopped between the knives of the cylinder and the stationary shear bar. Various adjustment means have been provided for the shear bar for adjusting the position of the shear bar relative to the knives to ensure good cutting action. One example of prior art adjusting means is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,309 issued Oct. 25, 1977, and entitled "Adjustable Cutter Bar Support" and in which I am a co-inventor. That patent has been assigned to an assignee common with the present invention. The adjusting means shown in that patent provided for adjustment for each end of the shear bar as well as the central portion of the length of the shear bar, relative to the chopping cylinder. That prior art device operated entirely satisfactory for the purposes for which it was designed. However, the inner end of the shear bar is located in a relatively inaccessible area of the machine and in close relationship with other components of the harvester so that it is difficult for the operator to reach the inner end of the shear bar to make the necessary adjustment in those cramped quarters. The other end of the shear bar, however, located at the outer or operator's side of the machine is readily accessible to the operator for performing the necessary adjustments of the shear bar.
Heretofore, the cutterbars or shear bars were set to the cylinder knives by using a feeler gauge to determine the correct setting of the cutterbar as it was moved toward the cylinder knife. This method was extremely slow and required the operator to move from one side of the machine to the other to finally obtain the proper setting. During the whole operation, the cylinder could not be rotatably driven.